iW NEWS | "Wild" Explodes; "Promises" Expands

Early estimates from Rentrak suggest that Sean Penn's "Into The Wild," fresh off a great reception at the Toronto International Film Festival, had a mammoth opening in limited release this weekend. "Wild" grossed $207,000 in just 4 locations for a $51,750 per theatre average. It expands into the top dozen markets next weekend. Other openers included the Brad Pitt-Casey Affleck western "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford" which, opening on 5 screens, found a $28,800 average that marks a solid beginning for a tough genre to market. Robin Swicord's "The Jane Austen Book Club" took in $160,520 on 25 screens for a respectable $6,421 average. Both films will expand significantly next weekend. Last weekend's big opener,David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises," made such an expansion this weekend, showing on nearly 1,500 screens and averaging an admirable, though not spectacular, $4,093. [Peter Knegt]

Early estimates from Rentrak suggest that Sean Penn's "Into The Wild," fresh off a great reception at the Toronto International Film Festival, had a mammoth opening in limited release this weekend. "Wild" grossed $207,000 in just 4 locations for a $51,750 per theatre average. It expands into the top dozen markets next weekend. Other openers included the Brad Pitt-Casey Affleck western "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford" which, opening on 5 screens, found a $28,800 average that marks a solid beginning for a tough genre to market. Robin Swicord's "The Jane Austen Book Club" took in $160,520 on 25 screens for a respectable $6,421 average. Both films will expand significantly next weekend. Last weekend's big opener,David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises," made such an expansion this weekend, showing on nearly 1,500 screens and averaging an admirable, though not spectacular, $4,093. [Peter Knegt]